Maple Leafs feel wrath of fans after loss to Jets in home finale

There was a time when, at the conclusion of the final home game of the season, Maple Leafs players would salute their fans by standing on the ice surface and give away their jerseys to the crowd.

It’s a good thing they didn’t do it after the regular-season finale on Saturday, dropping a 4-2 stinker to the Winnipeg Jets in a game that pretty much slammed the door on their playoff hopes.

Because had they handed out their blue-and-white sweaters, the bitter Leafs faithful likely would have thrown them right back at the players.

That’s how venomous the atmosphere was at the Air Canada Centre.

The locals have been restless on many a night at the Cashbox on Bay St. during the 2013-14 campaign, but this one may have reached the pinnacle on the disgust metre.

And rightly so.

The boos started when the Leafs left the ice following the first period, after the Jets tied the score 2-2 with just four seconds remaining before the intermission. They grew louder when the horn sounded to end the second, a 20-minute span in which the home side was outscored 1-0 and outshot 14-7.

And after Olli Jokinen put the Jets up by two goals at 7:09 of the third period, the bubbling frustration of an entire city finally boiled over.

The citizenry became so angry, they even jeered when P.A. announcer Andy Frost bellowed that the Leafs had taken a timeout.

Finally, when the clock had mercifully run out, the Leafs slinked off to the dressing rooms, beer cups plopping onto the ice behind them.

Make no mistake. We’re not condoning the actions of those idiots who chuck things onto the ice. Whether it’s drink containers, waffles, you name it, that’s a ridiculous thing to do.

One media colleague saw a bottle land close to Phil Kessel, who was said to have leered back at the lame-brain who did it. If that actually happened, MLSE should review the tape and, if the culprit is identified, ban him from the building for life.

When asked about the general reaction of the fans on this night, Kessel replied: “I don’t want to comment on that right now.”

In the end, aside from the boneheads who felt obligated to toss items on the playing surface, it is easy to see why the home throng — indeed, all of Leafs Nation — is developing such disdain for this team. How can fans develop a warm-and-fuzzy feeling for a group that, in the most important game of the season, gets beat for a no-touch icing call with goalie James Reimer on the bench for an extra attacker late in the game and down by two?

How can a hockey-crazed market embrace a team whose captain, after going minus-2, actually claimed his team didn’t get outworked?

What game were you watching, Dion?

Just minutes earlier, David Bolland had said the Leafs had, in fact, been outworked. That’s the same David Bolland who scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Blackhawks almost 10 months ago. The same David Bolland who has two Cup rings to his name.

Who are you going to believe? The captain or the proven winner? Welcome to the dysfunction that is the 2013-14 Toronto Maple Leafs.

Even in the Dark Ages of the mid-1980s, there were players like Wendel Clark that made these guys lovable losers in the eyes of the city. Wendel played hard. He checked. He fought. Most importantly, he looked as if he gave a (bleep). That, more than anything else, is what Leaf fans want to see.

Unfortunately, there have been too many evenings like Saturday where that virtue has not been on display.

You can lose. But at least show heart. Show stones. Go down with a bang, not a whimper.

Jets coach Paul Maurice can relate to the distress felt by Leafs Nation. He coached here. He felt their pain, their wrath, their anguish when their team missed the playoffs.

Said Maurice: “People care here. It’s raw emotion. It goes right through your family — from grandfathers to fathers to sons. That’s the passion here. That’s how badly they want this team to win.”

Let’s be clear on one point. If the Leafs win their final three games and make the playoffs, most — if not all — will be forgiven. Indeed, Maple Leafs Square will be clogged with thousands of zealots for Game 3 of the first round against, most likely, the Boston Bruins. Again.

But if the Leafs miss the post-season as the odds suggest, it definitely will be a summer of discontent in these parts.

Understandable.

Because these fans deserve much better, especially in terms of effort.

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